In the latest 2024 cut-off, 71 companies were selected for funding from a highly competitive pool of 1,211 submitted proposals. Of these, 431 applicants advanced to the jury interviews. This round marked the most competitive funding cycle since the launch of the Accelerator under Horizon Europe, with an EU-wide success rate of just 6%. The selected companies will receive up to €161 million in grants and approximately €226 million in equity investments.
At Euro-Funding we are super proud to have secured funding for 60% of our clients that reach the interview stage in the October call. This demonstrates our expertise in navigating the highly competitive application process and delivering results for our clients.
Key Takeaways from the call:
The EIC Accelerator, part of the European Innovation Council (EIC) under Horizon Europe, is a highly competitive funding program designed to support startups and SMEs developing breakthrough innovations with high growth potential. It offers grants (up to 2.5M€) with a funding rate of 70%, equity investments (0.5 – 10M€), or a combination of both (blended finance) to help companies scale their technologies and bring them to market.
The evaluation process consists of three steps:
Continuously open
Applicants submit a brief proposal, including a pitch deck and a short video. Proposals must receive a “GO” rating from at least three out of four remote evaluators to proceed to the next stage.
Open deadlines on 12 March and 1 October 2025
Selected applicants submit a detailed proposal, including a pitch deck and a short video. Proposal must receive a “GO” rating from the three evaluators to proceed to next stage.
Companies are invited for an interview with an expert jury. Only the most promising companies receive funding.
Looking at the overall performance of the EIC Accelerator programme, since 2021, a total of approximately 12886 Short applications have been submitted with only 7304 advancing to the Full proposal stage. The success rate for short applications has declined, dropping from 65% in the initial years to 35% in 2024. This decrease is attributed to the new evaluation process, which now requires at least three out of four remote evaluators to give a full “GO” rating for an application to advance to the full application stage. Previously, only two “GO” ratings were needed.
In the Step 2, a total of 9991 Full applications have been submitted since 2021, with only 2541 advancing to the interview stage and 702 ultimately selected for funding. This reflects an overall success rate of 7% for the period 2021–2024.
The EIC Accelerator budget for 2025 amounts to €634 million, with €384 million allocated to the Open Call and €250 million designated for the five Challenge Calls. Each Challenge Call has an indicative budget of €50 million.
The 2025 work programme introduces key changes to the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) eligibility, investment structure, and evaluation process, making the selection even more competitive. As a result, a decrease in the number of full applications is expected.
The minimum TRL requirement has been increased to TRL 6, meaning projects must demonstrate a validated prototype in a relevant environment before applying.
The maximum equity investment has been reduced to €10 million.
Equity-only funding is now open to all applicants, broadening access to non-dilutive support.
Continuously open for submissions but now evaluated in batches on the first Tuesday of each month. To proceed to the full proposal stage, an application must receive at least three out of four “GO” ratings from remote evaluators.
The consensus meeting must conclude with three “GO” ratings from all three evaluators for the proposal to advance to the jury interview stage.
A maximum of three submissions is allowed at any stage of the process, ensuring that unsuccessful applicants do not repeatedly reapply without significant improvements.
With these updates, the EIC Accelerator 2025 continues to drive deep-tech innovation, offering a rigorous yet rewarding funding opportunity for Europe’s most promising startups and SMEs.
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